Madueke has been a different player since England snub, says Arteta

Noni Madueke has been a completely different player since being left out of the England squad earlier this season, believes Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners hold a six-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League going into the international break, after battling to a 1-0 win over Hull City.

Martin Odegaard scored the only goal of Saturday's game, pouncing to slot home after Konstantinos Tzolakis could only parry Madueke's strike in the 72nd minute.

Madueke, who continues to deputise for the injured Bukayo Saka, was Arsenal's most prominent threat during what was a frustrating game for the most part, recording match-high figures for shots (four), expected goals (0.37 xG), touches in the box (14), dribbles attempted (eight) and completed (six) and duels won (eight).

Only Odegaard, meanwhile, bettered Madueke's four chances created, with the Norwegian laying on five. 

And Arteta believes Madueke has reached a new level since the previous international break, when he was omitted from Thomas Tuchel's England squad despite being a regular contributor at this year's World Cup. 

Madueke has again been overlooked for the November Nations League fixtures, but when reflecting on the way the winger went away to train on his own during the last hiatus, Arteta said his reaction has been exemplary. 

Arteta said of the winger: "The way he reacted to that, I think, is a great example for the rest of the squad, which is, 'I want to do more.' 

"He went away, he started to train and was a different Noni. He wasn't going to accept that situation, he meant business. Since then, he has been incredible.

"He knew he had three clear chances to score. He contributed and impacted in the action for the goal for Martin, but there are still margins we can work on, to make him more efficient."

Saturday's win was Arsenal's 34th by a 1-0 scoreline under Arteta in the Premier League, the most of any club since the Spaniard took the reins in December 2019.

And Arteta knows the Gunners can be better in the final third, citing their high number of offsides – including one against Kai Havertz that cost them a penalty in the first half – as something they must work on.

"We need to be more efficient. We were one-on-one with the 'keeper twice, and maybe there was a penalty there too," Arteta said.

"There were shots deflected, blocked... we need to insist, to find ways to be more efficient and pragmatic. 

"Sometimes we try to score the perfect goal against low blocks, but we need to be much more chaotic than that. If we open the scoring much earlier also, it changes the game.

"There are many areas we need to improve, and one of them is the offsides – they are sometimes related to the timing of the situations, where you line up and what space is given to you. 

"There have been too many, the Villa game puts those stats in a different perspective – the sample is quite short still to analyse it properly – but that is a point."

Arsenal return to action against Newcastle United on November 21, at St James' Park, before hosting Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and facing Manchester City in a titanic tussle between the Premier League's top two.